Re: [microsound] memory and sound

[Aaron Ximm <ghede@xxxxxxxx>]

Re: this discussion of the memory of sound,

Thought I'd share an experience I have enjoyed and become grateful for.

I'm working with field recordings, mostly, and when composing with them
will often listen intently to the same section or type of recordings for
hours at a time.

I've found that certain sounds and sound-properties that I've worked with
now trigger instant attention when I hear them in my ambient soundspace,
almost in the way a certain smell will provoke you to attend to it.

For example, I did some work a few years ago with recordings of seagulls,
and still find that when I hear one crying I snap into 'attentive
listening' mode and become highly concious of the audible environment.

Not melodic sound, just beaten so many times as to become well-known,
familiar in its detail...

(However, I'm not sure that I can recall at will the qualities of those
sounds in the same way that I can recall a melody).

 aaron

  ghede@xxxxxxxx
  http://www.quietamerican.org

------------------------------